Hermione Granger and the Sorcerer's Stone
by kywang8
Summary: This is Harry's story... told through Hermione's eyes! Have you ever wondered... what about Hermione? To me, it seems as if she doesn't get enough credit. No Hermione/Harry romance involved! Please Read, Review, Favorite, Alert... anything!
1. The Letter

**Chapter 1 The Letter **

Over the summer, several good things had happened to me but the best came from an owl knocking on my glass paned window at seven o'clock on a bright Saturday morning.

I was having a pleasant dream when I woke up to a sharp tapping sound. I moaned and turned over, pulling the pillow over my head. The tapping persisted and now I was more than annoyed. I rolled over angrily, ready to commit murder, but I saw no one. The tapping had stopped.

Exhausted, I decided my befuddled head had tricked me so I rolled my eyes and sank groggily back into the blankets. No sooner had I succumbed to sleep, when again the tapping started over. I sat up, fully awake and very angry and looked around.

That was when I saw the owl that would change my life forever. I frowned at the window and blinked a few times. The owl was hovering in place and appeared to be almost as annoyed and tired as I was.

I shook my mane of mussed brown hair out of my face and blinked at the owl. It blinked back. We stood for a long moment, staring at each other before the owl let out a loud squawk and I realized it must be pretty tired just flapping there.

I hurriedly lifted the latch on my window and threw open the glass panels to the sun. The owl immediately zoomed in and collapsed on the white comforter lying on my bed. I frowned. I wasn't used to owls coming into my room in the broad daylight.

As I watched, the owl slowly lifted its head and gave me a look, as if to say, _**Finally! **_It was then that I noticed the owl had something attached to its leg.

I frowned and looked at the bird. It stared rather pointedly at the bit of parchment on its leg and something finally clicked as my brain worked fuzzily to wake up.

"Oh," I said, rather stupidly. I moved forward sluggishly and the owl seemed to roll its eyes at me.

I detached the piece of parchment from the bird's leg and the bird immediately sat up and shot out of the window like a bullet. Wondering why it had made such a quick escape (I told you, my brain wasn't working properly yet!), I stared down at the paper in my hands. It was a letter.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

_of_ WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,_

_Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

Dear Ms. Granger,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted

at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please

find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no

later than July 31.

As you have been born to non-magical parents

a leaflet has also been enclosed with directions to retrieve your equipment.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Minerva McGonagall,

_Deputy Headmistress_

I looked numbly at the letter, than read it again. All of a sudden, it actually sank in. I was a witch! I could do magic! In a strange way, it made sense. Whenever I got angry or had an especially strong emotion, things would happen. Weird things. Now, I had an explanation from them.

I danced around my room with joy and screamed into the pillow happily. I was a witch! Then, I remembered my parents. I had to tell them! I was about to race off to their room and wake them up when I realized what the letter had said. _Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._ I frowned. I hadn't seen another piece of paper.

I shook out the letter and to my surprise two more pieces of parchment fluttered to the floor. I stooped down and picked them up.

One of them was written on plain parchment and another one had been colored a bright purple. I picked up the plain one and was gratified to find that this was my list of equipment. I read it over once:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

_of_ WITCHCRAFT _and _WIZARDRY

**UNIFORM**

First-year students will require:

Three sets of plain work robes (black)

One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags

**COURSE BOOKS**

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_

by Miranda Goshawk

_A History of Magic_ by Bathilda Bagshot

_Magical Theory_ by Adalbert Waffling

_A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration_ by Emeric Switch

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_

by Phyllida Spore

_Magical Drafts and Potions _by Arsenius Jigger

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_

by Newt Scamander

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_

by Quentin Trimble

**OTHER EQUIPMENT**

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS

ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

I gaped at the parchment and then my face split into a wide grin. I quickly turned to the purple leaflet. This one was different than the other two and was written on plain paper (though it was purple) instead of parchment.

I glanced at it quickly, my whole body practically vibrating with the knowledge of the fact that I was indeed, a witch. The leaflet read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

_of_ WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY

Dear Ms. Granger,

We have been informed that you come from a family

of non-wizards (also known as Muggles).

Kindly read over the following directions so you will

be able to retrieve your equipment.

All equipment can be found at Diagon Alley.

To get to Diagon Alley, go to the Leaky Cauldron

(555 Birming Street, 33134, London, England)

Ask the landlord (Mr. Tom) to kindly escort you to

Diagon Alley and show him this letter.

Once in Diagon Alley, all of your equipment should

be found with ease. If you need help, do not be afraid

to ask!

We have included a bag of wizard money, which is at your disposal.

Gold coins are Galleons, silver are Sickles, and the bronze coins are

Knuts. For each Galleon there are 17 Sickles and for each Sickle there are 29

Knuts.

You may use this money to buy your supplies.

Thank you and we hope to see you next term!

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Minerva McGonagall,

_Deputy Headmistress_

Just as I finished reading the letter, an owl flew through my open window, and dumped a sack onto my bed. It jingled merrily as it fell and to my surprise, this owl stayed. I supposed it was waiting for my reply back to Hogwarts, which of course, would be a definite yes. I quickly scribbled, Y_es, __I accept my enrollment into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_ onto a piece of paper and tied it to the owl's leg. Flushed with happiness, I hurried to my parents' room to show them my letter. I was already planning on reading all my books. I could hardly wait!


	2. Diagon Alley

**Chapter 2 Diagon Alley**

I emerged onto Diagon Alley after being bowed out of the Leaky Cauldron by the innkeeper Tom, and gasped. My mother whispered, "Oh my God." Really, that about summed it up. Oh. My. God. It was fantastic! The nearest shop was for cauldrons. I read the sign above a stack of cauldrons which had been put on display. In big letters, the sign read:

CAULDRONS

ALL SIZES

COPPER, Brass, PEWTER, SILVER

SELF-STIRRING

COLLAPSIBLE

"Well," said my father, in a surprisingly calm voice, "we have to get you one of those, don't we, sweetie?" I nodded and he strode into the shop.

My mother and I followed slowly behind, our eyes wide as we tried to take in everything. A shop across the street had red letters reading:

THE APOTHECARY

and through the grimy windows I spotted all sorts of rather gruesome items. I wrinkled my nose and turned to the next shop.

Above the door a sign read:

Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.

in faded, peeling letters. I tried to look through the windows but it was too dark to see inside. The next building was on the corner and it wasn't a shop. It was a lofty white building that towered over all the other smaller shops. Carved into the pure white stone were two words.

GRINGOTTS BANK

The doors were made of burnished bronze and as I watched a short man with small, beady eyes, a long, crooked nose and a scarlet and gold uniform stepped out. I stared rather curiously at the small man, wondering how in the world he could be so tiny and mean looking. The shop next to the cauldron shop announced in bold letters:

EEYLOPS OWL EMPORIUM

TAWNY, SCREECH, BARN, BROWN, AND SNOWY

A low, soft hooting came from deep within the shop. Along the cobbled street I spotted a store that said something that I couldn't make out because of all the heads crowded around the display window. I heard someone's voice saying, "The new Nimbus Two Thousand!" Another voice said, "… heard it's the fastest broom ever…" Further down the road, a shop with brightly colored umbrellas over some tables outside it had the words

Florean Fortecue's Ice Cream Parlour

printed all around each umbrella. Just visible was a shop called

Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions

and further down I saw shops selling telescopes, strange silver instruments, colored ink, quills of every feather, parchment rolled into tight scrolls, potion bottles and beakers, and globes of every planet and some I hadn't ever seen before floating around on mobiles. Just as we were about to step into the cauldron shop a display window caught my eye. I squealed as I saw books piled high in the display. I quickly read the name:

Flourish and Blott's

"We **have** to go there!" I cried. My mother looked to where I was pointing excitedly and smiled.

We went into the store and I bought a pewter cauldron, standard size 2, with the wizard money I had been given.

As we trudged down the street to each shop I marveled at the many fascinating things.

We went to the Apothecary, where the manager there gave me a kit to start Potions class with and some protective dragon's hide gloves, and then headed over to Flourish and Blott's.

I traversed the shelves looking at all the interesting books until an assistant asked me if he could be of any help. I told him I was a Hogwarts student, First Year, rather importantly, but he just shrugged me off and went to go get my books.

When he left I peered at a book on display. It had a picture of a large black dog on it and it looked rather evil. I didn't bother reading the title.

The pimple faced assistant arrived with my books and we left, laden down with shopping bags.

The next things to get were robes and so we headed off to Madam Malkin's. Madam Malkin was a kind, slightly plump witch who helped fit me with my robes and winter cloak. I also bought a pointed hat from her.

Next, we bought my telescope, brass scales, and glass phials at several different shops. After that, all that was left was my wand.

We headed over to Ollivander's Wand Shop, passing Gringotts. As we did so, a boy with untidy black hair, glasses, and a lightning shaped scar walked out following what I could only assume was a giant. His hands were as large as dustpan lids and his wild hair and beard were rather overgrown and tangled. His small black eyes were set back into his face but, unlike the little man I had seen earlier outside of Gringotts, his eyes were pleasant. As we walked past I read the inscription on the set of silver doors inside. It read:

_Enter, stranger, but take heed_

_Of what awaits the sin of greed,_

_For those who take, but do not earn,_

_Must pay most dearly in their turn._

_So if you seek beneath our floors_

_A treasure that was never yours,_

_Thief, you have been warned, beware_

_Of finding more than treasure there._

I shivered at the odd poem and we walked quickly on. The boy and giant were moving down the sidewalk and now that my initial shock over the giant was over I decided they weren't that interesting.

As we entered Ollivander's a soft bell tinkled far back into the depths of the shop. A soft voice came out of the gloom, making me and my parents jump. "Good morning."

The next moment, an old man walked out of the shadows and up to me. "Hogwarts I presume," he said and I nodded. He nodded back and then snapped his fingers. A silver tape measure came whistling through the air towards me and began measuring me all around. "Hold out your wand arm," the man whom I was sure to be Mr. Ollivander instructed me.

I held out my right arm, for I was right handed and the measuring tape floated in the air, measuring my arm. Just as my arm was starting to get tired, the measuring tape stopped, rolled itself up, and promptly collapsed onto the dusty, wood floor.

I was given some wands and told to wave them around a bit. It took a while, and several shattered glass bottles later, until I found the perfect wand. With a sweep of my arm the glass shattered on the floor cleared up and heat spread through my fingers as a slight wind crept through my hair.

Afterwards, Mr. Ollivander boxed up my wand and I paid for it. I discovered I still had some wizard's gold left so we spent it on some ice cream at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. It was delicious.

Later that night, I started a countdown on my calendar of how many days left until my arrival at Hogwarts. Little did I know, a boy with unkempt black hair, glasses, and a lightning shaped scar was doing the exact same thing to a piece of paper just as I finished with my own calendar.


	3. The Hogwarts Express

**Chapter 3 The Hogwarts Express**

After Diagon Alley, the days seemed to rush past in a blink. One minute I was putting the countdown until my days of Hogwarts started up on my calendar, the next my parents and I were getting ready to leave to go to King's Cross Station. My trunk had been packed for days now and yet as I scurried around I felt sure I must be missing something. I went through everything in my trunk for the seventeenth time and stacked some extra Muggle books inside in case I got bored on the train. Last night, I had read over all my textbooks again. I was determined not to make a fool of myself. After all, probably most everyone else at Hogwarts would come from Wizarding families and might even have siblings already at Hogwarts! They were probably loads ahead of me!

I had already read about a bunch of interesting things but I felt that Harry Potter was the most interesting. He was a boy wizard and apparently he was the only one to ever survive the Killing Curse and by the Darkest wizard of all no less! If my calculations were correct he should be my age right now and maybe I would even see him at Hogwarts this year!

When we arrived at King's Cross Station it was packed with non-wizards. I had been sent my ticket the day before by Owl Post. Now, I clutched it in my hand stuffed into my robe's pockets. I had already changed into my robes so I wouldn't stand out. Later, I realized most people hadn't changed into their robes so I stood out anyways. I read the ticket again. When I had first read it I had been confused and I still was. Printed in bold, black letters on the front of the ticket were the words:

Platform 9 ¾

I had no idea there was such a platform at the Station. When we got there, I got a cart and loaded it up with my trunk. I would have had an owl, but I hadn't enough money left at the end of our trip to Diagon Alley even before we bought our ice cream.

I pushed the cart over to where platforms nine and ten were but I saw no Platform 9 ¾ between them. A big plastic 9 had been hung over the platform and the same with 10 but there was nothing in between the two except for a barrier, separating them.

My parents and I frowned and looked around. I remembered how the leaflet had said to not be afraid to ask for help. Perhaps someone from a Wizarding family was there who could assist us.

I turned back to the barrier. To my surprise, someone had just appeared to run through the barrier. I peered closer. There was no one there. _Must be my imagination_, I thought.

Soon, I spotted two girls, twins who looked as if they might have Indian origins, with their parents. I noticed them not because of their Indian heritage, but because of their two big wooden trunks and shiny brass owl's cages. The owls inside of the cages were currently asleep though I doubted they would stay asleep for long with all the hustle and bustle.

"Hey mum! Look! They've got owls!" I gestured towards the girls.

"So they do! Let's see how they get to the platform," my mother said.

"Follow those Indians!" proclaimed my father quite loudly.

"Shush! They might here you!" I reprimanded him.

We followed the girls and their parents as they headed towards the barrier between the platforms. To my surprise, again, they simply walked straight through the barrier! I stared. My mother stared. My dad gaped.

"Did you see…" my mother trailed off.

"Did they just…" my father stared openmouthed at the barrier.

"Yes, I believe they did," I stated and wheeled my cart straight up to the barrier. I turned. My parents were still standing there, gawking at the barrier.

"Well, come **on**! I'm going to be late and we need to get **going**!" I glared at them.

At these words my parents seemed to snap out of their trance and followed me through the barrier. At first, I was sure I would smack right into it and I closed my eyes. To my amazement, I walked straight through the stone barrier and out onto Platform 9 ¾.

Everywhere I looked, students milled about clutching heavy trunks, stuffed with books. Cats protested in loud meows, rats squeaked, toads croaked, and owls hooted in their cages.

A scarlet steam engine pumped steam into the air and I watched students boarding it, dragging their trunks up the ramp and loading them into compartments in the train.

Through open windows, I spotted children from ages 11 to 17 chattering about their summers to their friends and newbies such as myself finding lonely compartments where they sat nervously awaiting their new compartment buddies.

Some people had their robes on but most didn't and were simply dressed in regular clothing. Although there were those who evidently thought they were dressed in normal Muggle clothes but were instead dressed outrageously. I laughed a little when I saw these people and after that the tension seemed to break. My parents and I relaxed.

As I said my goodbyes to my parents, with promises to write, I noticed a round faced boy looking worriedly at his grandmother.

"Gran, I've lost my toad again."

"Oh, _Neville_, I head the woman sigh.

A boy with dreadlocks had a small crowd of people around him.

"Give us a look, Lee, go on," said a boy in the front of the crowd peering down at a box that the boy with dreadlocks was holding. The boy, Lee, opened the lid a bit and a long, hairy leg poked out. Everyone screamed and Lee looked quite pleased.

I boarded the train and found an empty compartment. Moments later, the round faced boy I had seen with his grandmother came in.

"Can I sit here?" he asked. "Everywhere else is full."

I nodded and helped him lift his trunk up onto the luggage rack. To be honest with you, I did most of the work and I wasn't even that strong. Afterwards, the boy started to pant from the exertion. I was pretty sure that he must be quite weak.

We sat in an awkward silence for a while as we waited for the train to start moving when the boy broke it.

"Have you seen a toad, by any chance?" he inquired miserably.

"No, sorry," I apologized. "But I'm sure he'll turn up."

"Maybe," said the boy doubtfully.

"I'm Neville by the way, Neville Longbottom," he told me.

"Nice to meet you, Neville. I'm Hermione, Hermione Granger."

He nodded politely. I looked down out of the window. My parents had left already as my father had a meeting he had to attend to and now I could see the heads of several people with quite red, fiery hair.

"Guess who we just met on the train?" I heard a pair of twins saying to their slightly plump mother. "You know that black-haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?"

"Who?"

"_Harry Potter!_"

A little girl squealed.

"Oh, Mom, can I go on the train and see him, Mom, oh please…."

After this I stopped listening.

Harry Potter. He was on this train! My suspicions had been correct! He was coming to Hogwarts!


	4. Introductions

**Disclaimer:**

**I realized I haven't put a disclaimer in yet so here it is.**

**All rights to the wonderful world of Harry Potter go to J.K. Rowling. **

**Some dialogue from this story comes from the original Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.**

**A/N Thanks to Yellow Flash for being my first reviewer and to LadyLestrange x for being my second! Thanks a lot! **

**Chapter 4 Introductions**

Neville didn't do much talking so I took out one of my books and started to read. Neville took off his worried face for a moment and gasped when I started reading it.

"What?" I asked a bit defensively. I was reading a book by one of my favorite authors of all time, J.K. Rowling.

"The pictures!" Neville exclaimed.

"What about them?"

"They DON'T MOVE!"

"Well, of course they don't!" I said crossly.

"But- but I thought ALL pictures moved!"

"Don't be silly Neville," I said, annoyed.

Neville's face returned to one of crushed sadness and I felt a bit bad but at the moment I was too engrossed in my book to comfort him.

At half past twelve a plump, smiling woman poked her head in the compartment and amid a great clattering asked if we wanted anything from her cart of snacks.

I had no money so I declined and Neville said nothing so the woman left, bouncing her clattering cart along down the aisle. Every so often I would hear her loud voice booming out, "AAAAAAAAAANYTHING FROM THE TROLLEY?"

A few minutes later, it seemed as if Neville had overcome his shyness and got up. He told me he was going to ask around about his toad. I nodded. He came back five minutes later and said that nobody had seen him. Finding this hard to believe and it also hard to believe he'd traversed the whole train in five minutes, I went out with him to ask about his toad.

After asking some extremely loud fifth years if they had seen the toad, we headed down to the next compartment. A boy who no doubt was related to the red haired people I'd seen on the platform (red hair and freckles) and another boy with black hair and brilliant green eyes were sitting there and the red haired boy had his wand out. He looked as if he were ready to start a spell.

"Has anyone seen a toad?" I asked. "Neville's lost one.

"We've already told him we haven't seen it," said the red head exasperatedly. I stared at the wand in his hand.

"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it then." I said and sat down. The boy looked taken aback.

"Er- all right," he stammered. He cleared his throat then recited:

"_Sunshine, daises, butter mellow,_

_Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow._"

He was obviously trying to turn his rat yellow but I wasn't working.

"Are you sure that's a real spell? I asked doubtfully. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me.

"Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so please, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard – I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough – I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"

I said this all very fast and I guess they didn't understand. I was about to repeat myself, much slower for the sake of these two rather slow boys when the red head muttered, "I'm Ron Weasley."

Oh, well, maybe they weren't as slow as they seemed.

The black haired boy said, "I'm Harry Potter."

"Are you really? I know all about you, of course – I got a few extra books for background reading, and of course, you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."

It was true, I had found some books for sale at Flourish and Blotts at very low prices. Harry Potter was mentioned in most of them.

Harry was looking dazed. "Am I?" he asked.

"Goodness," I said, shocked that he didn't know. "didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me.

"Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad….

"Anyways, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."

Neville and I left then.

We asked around some more for a bit but then Neville had to change so I searched for another few minutes. I went up the conductor and asked how long it would be until we got to Hogwarts. Soon, I heard a weird sound coming from Harry Potter's compartment.

I entered the small compartment, pushing past a pale blonde boy with a pointed face much like a rats, and asked, "What _has _been going on?"

Sweets littered the floor and Ron was picking up his rat. "I think he's been knocked out," he said to Harry. He peered closely at Scabbers. "No - I don't believe it - he's gone back to sleep." He shook his head in disgust and put Scabbers down on his lap.

He turned to Harry. "You've met Malfoy before?" he grimaced apparently at the boy I had seen walking out of the compartment a moment ago.

"Well, I met him once at Madam Malkin's. He called Hagrid some stuff and wasn't very pleasant." Harry wrinkled his nose.

"I've heard of his family. They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side," said Ron darkly.

Then, he turned to me. "Can we help you with something?"

"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"

"Scabbers had been fighting, not us," Ron protested. "Would you mind leaving while we change?"

"All right – I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," I sniffed. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"

I turned around and stalked out of the compartment, seeing as my presence wasn't welcomed.

**A/N- So what do you guys think so far? Please Read, Review, Favorite, and Alert! Thanks so much!**

**~ Kylie **


	5. Hogwarts

**A/N- Hey guys! Thanks for the all the Favoriting, Alerting, and Reviews! Please R&R! Thanks!**

**~Kylie**

**Disclaimer:**

**I do not own Harry Potter but some of the dialogue in this story comes from the first Harry Potter book. All rights go to J.K. Rowling for Harry Potter. Even though I want to be her, I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon… **

**Chapter 5 Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

I was about to haul down my trunk when a voice echoed through the train.

"We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' times. Please leave your luggage on the train it will be taken to the school separately."

I pushed my trunk back onto the rack and joined the crowd in the corridor.

When the train finally stopped I pushed my way out onto a small, dark platform.

A lamp bobbed above our heads, shedding light out over the dark platform. Then, a voice boomed out.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?"

A giant loomed into view. I realized he must be the giant I'd seen coming out of Gringotts with the boy. Come to think of it… if that was the giant, then the boy with him must have been Harry!

The giant's hands were as big as dust pans and his eyes were black and kind. His beard was wild and untamed and if possible he seemed even bigger than when I had last seen him.

"C'mon, follow me – any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

We followed the giant, Hagrid, down a narrow, steep path. Neville sniffled as we walked and I figured he hadn't found his toad yet. I felt bad for him, but there was nothing I could do.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec. Jus' round this bend here," Hagrid hollered over his shoulder.

As Hogwarts came into sight there was a collective "Oooooh" from all the first years.

A great black lake had opened from the path but this was not what we were concentrated on.

A high mountain was silhouetted against the starry sky and perched atop this mountain top was a vast castle with many turrets and towers. It's windows glittered from the stars sparkling in the sky. We all stared in wonder. For a moment, there was complete silence.

Then, Hagrid yelled out, "No more'n four to a boat!"

Confused, we looked to the lake and saw a fleet of small boats bobbing in the dark water near the shore. Harry and Ron got into a boat and I joined with Neville, who had come up to me while I was staring at Hogwarts.

As Hagrid was so big, he had a boat all to himself. As we boarded the small fleet of boats and got settled he shouted, "Everyone in? Right then – FORWARD!" All at once, the boats moved forward together, gliding across the glassy surface of the lake. The boats reached the cliff and Hagrid yelled, "Heads down!" as we sailed through a curtain of ivy that hid an opening in the cliff face. We drifted down a dark tunnel which if I was not mistaken, was under Hogwarts until we reached an underground harbor. Climbing out of the boats we clattered out onto rocks and pebbles.

"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" asked Hagrid, in his loud booming voice to Neville. He had been checking the boats for stragglers and had apparently found his toad.

"Trevor!" Neville cried, racing towards Hagrid, with his arms stretched out and hands laid flat for his toad. We hiked up a passageway in the rock, following Hagrid's bobbing lantern, then, out onto moist grass on the lawn leading up to Hogwarts, and finally up a flight of stone steps where we crowded around a huge, oak door that would lead us into Hogwarts.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" Hagrid raised his huge hand, clenched in a fist, and gave three booming knocks on the door. We got ready to take our first steps into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

**A/N- Hey guys! Sorry this chapter was so short… basically I just needed a filler for how they get to Hogwarts so next time I will try my best to make the chapters longer! **


	6. The Sorting

**Disclaimer:**

**All rights go to J.K. Rowling for being the best author ever and writing this series! Some dialogue is derived from her book but all rights for it go to Mrs. Rowling.**

**A/N- Okay, since the last chapter was so short I'm going to try and give you guys an extra-long one today! Well, here you go!**

**Chapter 6 The Sorting **

The door opened just as Hagrid finished knocking. A woman stood on the threshold of the door. My first impression of her? Severe.

She was a tall, thin woman with black hair streaked with gray tied into a tight bun. Her robes were emerald green. Glasses were set on the bridge of her nose and she peered down through them at us.

We seemed to quail under her gaze.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid announced, a bit obviously I thought.

"Thank you Hagrid," Professor McGonagall said in a stern voice that matched her well. "I will take them from here."

She pulled the door open. The entrance hall was HUGE. You could've fit my whole house in it! If this was just the entrance hall, Hogwarts must be ENORMOUS!

The stone walls were lit with torches that cast flickering shadows on them. The ceiling was so high you couldn't make it out and a beautiful marble staircase facing us led upstairs.

We followed Professor McGonagall across the stone floor.

I could hear the buzz of hundreds of voices from a doorway to our right. I assumed the rest of the school must already be here

I expected Professor McGonagall to lead us through that door but instead she showed us into an empty chamber off of the hall.

We crowded in nervously, seeking comfort from total strangers if only because they felt the same way as we stood closer together than normal.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall said. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Her eyes passed over Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his ear, and on Ron's dirty nose. I saw Harry trying desperately, to flatten his hair.

"I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly."

Professor McGonagall left the chamber.

I heard Harry ask Ron in a whisper, "How exactly do they sort us into houses?"

Ron replied, "Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."

My heart jolted. I began whispering nervously to everyone and anyone who would listen.

"I've only mastered a few spells. I wonder which ones I'll need… Hmm…. _Alohomora_ opens locks. _Expelliarmus_ disarms someone. Oh! What's that one… the one that shields you? I always forget that one!"

All of a sudden something caught my eye. I screamed and so did some other people. About twenty pearly white, transparent figures floated through the back wall. They were talking to one another and not even glancing down at us. They appeared to be arguing. A small, fat monk was saying, "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance—"

A ghost sporting a ruff and tights replied, "My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost—I say, what are you all doing here?"

Apparently, they had finally noticed us.

Nobody said anything.

"New students!" cried the Friar, smiling at us. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

Some people nodded mutely.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff! My old house you know!" said the Friar jovially.

Thankfully, Professor McGonagall came in, sparing us from answering.

"Move along now. The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

The ghosts floated away through the opposite wall, continuing their conversation from before.

"Now, form a line, and follow me." Professor McGonagall instructed. We walked out of the chamber, back through the hall, and through a pair of double doors that lead into the Great Hall.

If the entrance hall was huge than the Great Hall was GINORMOUS! Thousands upon thousands of candles floated mysteriously in the air with no apparent support. Four long tables were set underneath the candles, and students sat on the benches that lined either side of them. Glittering gold plates and goblets were set in front of every student, with a few empty seats here and there. Another long table at the top of the hall sat all the teachers. Professor McGonagall led the first up the center aisle and I watched as all the students craned their heads to get a good look at us. We came to a halt at the staff table and made an about face so we were facing the students. It was a bit unnerving to be putting our backs to the teachers, I thought. Especially, the sallow, hook nosed, greasy haired man sitting with all the teachers. I hoped I didn't end up having him though, I guess at some point I would, like it or not. I was trying to avoid all the staring eyes, when I saw Harry Potter look up with a puzzled look on his face. "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in _Hogwarts, A History,_" I whispered to him.

I turned back to the students to see that Professor McGonagall was now placing a four-legged stool in front of us. On top of the stool, she set a battered wizard's hat. It was patched and frayed and look quite filthy. Wrinkling my nose, I wondered if we had to put it on. Ick! Everyone was now focusing on the hat so I did too. For a moment, there was utter silence. I was beginning to wonder if everyone was waiting for something that would never happen when all of a sudden, the hat twitched. I started, surprised as a rip near the brim opened up like a mouth and began to sing.

"_Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleep and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_If you've a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

Everyone burst into loud applause and I clapped politely as the hat finished it's roaring song. It made a slight bow to each of the four tables and then became as still as a grave. I heard Ron whispering to Harry and leaned in closer to hear.

"—just got to try on the hat!" he was saying. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll."

Harry gave a weak smile. I had a feeling he was relieved and terrified at the same time.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," Professor McGonagall announced. "Abbot, Hannah!"

I was glad I wasn't the first one, in case I did something wrong but I felt a bit bad for the pink-faced girl with the blonde pigtails who stumbled out of line and put on the hat. It was so big it fell right over her eyes. There was a small moment's pause in which Abbot, Hannah, seemed to start a bit and then the hat shouted out, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The table on the right cheered and clapped loudly as Hannah Abbot went to sit with them, looking relieved with a small smile on her lips.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Susan scuttled off to the Hufflepuff table with Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

Now, the table second from the left clapped this time. A few Ravenclaws stood up and shook Terry's hand as he skittered off to their table.

And so it went. "Brocklehurst, Mandy" became the second Ravenclaw and "Brown, Lavender" became the first Gryffindor. The table farthest on the left erupted with cheers and I could see the Weasley twins cat-calling loudly.

The first Slytherin was "Bulstrode, Millicent", and "Finch-Fletchley, Justin" became a Hufflepuff.

I couldn't help but notice two things. One, everyone who tried on the hat seemed to start when they first put it on which left me with a sense of foreboding, and two, the hat sometimes seemed to take a while to decide with some while others, it only took a few seconds.

"Finnigan, Seamus!" Professor McGonagall read off the scroll. The sandy-haired boy next to Harry sat on the stool for a whole minute until he was declared a Gryffindor.

Finally, finally! My name was called.

"Granger, Hermione!"

I ran towards the stool eagerly and jammed the hat on my head. Now, that I knew that all I had to do was try on the hat I was quite eager. Even, the little start everyone seemed to get couldn't bring me down. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, a little voice seemed to whisper in my ear, "Ahh!" I started as everyone else had and then realized the hat was talking to me… in my head!

"Oh, good job!" the hat cried excitedly in my head. "You're the fastest to have figured it out. Finnigan, Seamus simply took _forever_!"

"Oh really?"

"Yes, yes, but here we are. We must sort you. So, now, where to put you?" Slytherin?"

My heart gave a gigantic start then relaxed again as the hat said, "No, I don't think so. Maybe, Hufflepuff?"

Well, that sounded all right. I remembered the hat's song. Just, loyal, patient. Oh. I wasn't very patient. Still…

"No, I don't really think so."

I relaxed. To be honest, I was hoping for Gryffindor though I wouldn't mind Ravenclaw.

"Ahh… Gryffindor you want? But, you know, you have the brains for Ravenclaw. Hmm… but there is something… Yes, I know exactly where to put you!"

I thought for sure I was destined for Ravenclaw. Therefore, it was to my great surprise when the hat shouted out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Though the whole exchange had probably only taken a few seconds, it felt like it had been an eternity. As I took the hat off and placed it neatly on the stool I felt happiness surge through me. The Gryffindors were yelling and screaming and clapping loudly. I felt as though they had clapped the loudest for me though I'm sure that wasn't the case. My ears rang with the noise and a wide smile appeared on my lips. I'm certain I probably looked pretty stupid with that silly grin on my face but I was just so happy I couldn't wipe it off.

I wasn't really paying attention until "Longbottom, Neville", the round-faced, scatterbrained boy I had met on the train was called. After sitting under the hat for a very long time, the hat finally called out, "GRYFFINDOR!" There was some polite applause which quickly turned into laughter as Neville got up with the hat still on his head and hurried over to the Gryffindor table. As he realized the hat was still on his head, he turned quite pink and jogged back to set the hat carefully on the stool so "MacDougal, Morag" could try it on.

A few more names were called but I didn't really pay them much attention. None became Gryffindors anyways.

Then, "Malfoy, Draco!"

The blonde boy with the pale, pointed face swaggered up and set the hat on his head. Before it could even slip over his eyes, the hat yelled, "SLYTHERIN!" Malfoy went and joined his friends, Crabbe and Goyle at the Slytherin table, eyes alight with triumph as he stared smugly around. More names were called.

"Moon", "Nott", "Parkinson", "Patil", and then her twin, "Patil", "Perks, Sally-Anne" and then finally…

"Potter, Harry!" called Professor McGonagall. As soon as his name was called, whispers broke out among the students.

"_Potter_, did she say?"

"_The_ Harry Potter?"

Everyone craned their necks to get a good look at the famous Harry Potter as the hat slipped over his eyes. The hat took a while to decide for him. It seemed as if the whole school held their breath.

It seemed to me as if the hat was saying something particularly unpleasant to Harry because he had his eyes shut, fingers crossed tightly, and seemed to be mouthing something like, "Not slink the ring. Not slink the ring." Though I was pretty sure that wasn't what he was saying. At last, the hat shouted out, "GRYFFINDOR!" As Harry walked shakily to the table the Gryffindors seemed to explode. The table erupted with cheers and shouts and loud clapping. The cacophony of noise made my ears ring and I heard the Weasley over the noise shouting, "We got Potter! We got Potter!" Another Weasley, Percy, I think stood up and pumped Harry's arm so vigorously I was sure he would break it off. The ghost with the tights and ruff patted Harry on the back, even though his hand only sank straight through him. Harry seemed to shiver when this happened and I couldn't blame him. I'd read somewhere that when a ghost touches you, it feels as if you'd been dunked in a bucket of ice water. I watched as Hagrid gave Harry a thumbs up and Harry nodded and smiled back.

Only four people left and they were probably feeling very nervous, coming right after the famous Harry Potter.

"Thomas, Dean", an African American boy became the next Gryffindor and it only seemed as if he got a lot of applause as everyone else was still applauding for Harry. Dean sat down nervously.

"Turpin, Lisa" became a Ravenclaw and the Ravenclaws gave her a big burst of applause, trying, it seemed, to out-do the Gryffindors, but failing miserably. There was still the odd clap and cheer at the Gryffindor table and every now and then the Weasley's would give another round of, "We got Potter!"

At last, Professor McGonagall called, "Weasley, Ronald!" and Ron walked up, looking green. A second later, the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

There was a small burst of applause, though nothing compared to Harry's. Ron just seemed happy to be able to sit in peace. I heard Percy saying rather pompously, "Well done, Ron, excellent."

"Zabini, Blaise" was made a SLytherin and then Professor McGonagall rolled up the scroll, packed up the stool and Sorting Hat and walked out of the hall.

I realized how hungry I was and looked around expectantly. Nobody moved. Then, Professor Dumbledore stood up.

**A/N- Well, there you are! The longest chapter I've ever written! I hope you liked it! Please Read, Review, Favorite, and Alert! Thanks to all that have done those things! I should be posting pretty soon as tomorrow I'm going to a hotel since our house is being tented and I should be able to write a chapter or two that night! Thanks again!**

**~Kylie**


	7. The Feast

**Chapter 7 The Feast**

Albus Dumbledore stood at the head of the staff table wearing a huge, beaming smile on his face, his arms spread wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more to see all the students here.

"Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

Thank you!"

He sat again and every applauded him. A few people even cheered and whooped. I heard Harry asking Percy, "Is he – a bit mad?"

"Mad?" asked Percy sounding as if he weren't paying much attention. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"

Harry's mouth dropped open as he gaped at the table. I followed his eyes and to my delight, saw piles upon piles of food stacked in front of me. I had never seen so much food! I looked at the other tables and saw that all the other tables had just as much food. I was amazed. How could so much food have been transported here without our noticing?

The older students had started to eat as if this happened every day. Which, I thought, it might. There was roast chicken, roast beef, pork chops, lamb chops, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, sausages, carrots, gravy, ketchup, Yorkshire pudding, peas, roast potatoes, fries, and strangely, peppermint humbugs.

I piled my plate with anything and everything. I even tried the peppermint humbugs and found them to be quite good.

"That does look good," the ghost in the ruff and tights had drifted over to our side of the table, apparently through some poor third year, who was shuddering across the table. The ghost was currently watching Harry cut up his steak with a mournful expression.

"Can't you—," Harry started to ask but the ghost interrupted.

"I haven't eaten for nearly four hundred years," he said somberly. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower."

I remembered reading about Sir Nicholas in a book only he hadn't been called Sir Nicholas…

Just then Ron cried, "I know who you are!" He choked down some potatoes and then finished. "My brothers told me about you– you're Nearly Headless Nick!"

The ghost sniffed. "I would _prefer_ you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy—" he stiffened as Seamus Finnigan interrupted him.

"_Nearly_ Headless? How can you be _nearly_ headless?"

Now, Sir Nicholas, or Nearly Headless Nick, was beginning to look extremely put out. "Like _this_," he said irritably. He grabbed his left ear and yanked. His whole head swung off his neck and fell unceremoniously onto his shoulders as if on a hinge. One small strip of flesh held his head to his neck. It seemed as if someone had done their best to behead him but hadn't quite finished before he died. My mouth gaped open as did almost all the first years who had been paying attention to Nearly Headless Nick. The ghost looked quite pleased at our shocked expressions.

He neatly flipped his head back onto his neck, coughed slightly, and then said, "So—new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year? Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have got the cup three times in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable—he's the Slytherin ghost."

I looked over to the Slytherin table and saw Malfoy sitting next to a ghost with blank, staring eyes, a pale (though I supposed all ghosts looked pale), staring face, and robes stained with silver blood. I could see Malfoy was looking a bit uncomfortable and I laughed to myself. Served him right.

"How did he get covered in blood?" asked Seamus curiously.

"I've never asked," Nearly Headless Nick replied carefully.

I had just finished off my last bite when the plates cleared all of a sudden; turning back to a gleaming gold and desserts appeared in front of us where there had once been dinner food. Ice cream of every flavor, pies stuffed with anything and everything, sticky treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs, fruit cups, jiggling Jell-O in every shape, size, and color, puddings—vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry, doughnuts, trifle, and cakes and cupcakes finely iced with the message, "Welcome!" were all there.

As we dug our way through the mountains of food I heard Seamus Finnigan saying, "I'm half-and-half." I had no idea what he was talking about. I thought half-and-half was a kind of milk. Then, he cleared things up. "Me dad's a Muggle. Mom didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him."

We all laughed appreciatively. "What about you, Neville?" Ron asked.

"Well, my gran brought me up and she's a witch but the family though I was all-Muggle for ages. My Great Uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some magic out of me—he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned—but nothing happened until I was eight. Great Uncle Algie came round for dinner, and he was hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles when my Great Auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go. But I bounced—all the way down the garden and into the road. They were all really pleased, Gran was crying, she was so happy, And you should have seen their faces when I got in here—they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great Uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad."

Neville resumed eating his pudding as the conversation continued and I turned to Percy Weasley. We began talking about lessons.

"I _do_ hope they start right away, there's so much to learn, I'm particularly interested in Transfiguration, you know, turning something into something else, of course, it's supposed to be very difficult—" I said.

"You'll be starting small, just matches into needles and that sort of thing—"Percy replied.

"And what about Charms? That seems positively _fascinating_!"

"Well, yes, it is, of course. Professor Flitwick is absolutely miniscule though. Even if he does have dwarf blood. But still, he is positively brilliant you know."

"Yes, and Potions? Who will I have, do you know?"

"Ahh… well, you'll probably have—"

At that moment Harry yelped, "Ouch!" and clapped a hand to his forehead.

"What is it?" Percy asked, concerned.

"N-nothing," Harry replied shakily. It certainly didn't look like nothing to me but I didn't say anything. Percy shot him one last worried look before turning back to me. He was about to say something to me when we were interrupted again by Harry. I was starting to get a bit annoyed now. I said nothing, however.

"Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" Harry inquired of Percy.

Percy turned to Harry again and we both simultaneously looked up at the staff table. Harry appeared to be looking at the sallow faced man I had seen when we first came in.

"Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to—everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts Snape," Percy replied.

Eventually, the desserts disappeared and the talk died down immediately as Dumbledore stood again.

"Ahem—just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.

First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of out older students would do well to remember that as well."

Dumbledore's merrily twinkling eyes seemed to linger a bit longer on the Weasleys' twins faces as he surveyed the room.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contract Madam Hooch,

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

A few people laughed, including Harry, but I did not. While Dumbledore's eyes still twinkled there was something else in them. Something dark… something warning. And a smile did not touch his lips.

"He's not serious?" I heard Harry ask Percy.

"Must be," said Percy frowning up at the staff table where Dumbledore was still standing. "It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere—the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us prefects, at least."

Dumbledore finished his speech, "And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!"

He flicked his wand and a long gold ribbon flew out of it and rose above the tables, twisting, snakelike, into words. I paid close attention to the way he moved his wand for future reference.

"Everyone pick their favorite tune," Dumbledore announced. "and off we go!"

We all read off the words, some quite off-key, some sounding like strangled ducks, some singing briskly, some rapping, and some just singing a nice medium tune. The lyrics that had come from the ribbon floated in the air spelling out the school song:

_Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,_

_Teach us something please,_

_Whether we be old and bald_

_Or young with scabby knees,_

_Our heads could do with filling_

_With some interesting stuff,_

_For now they're bare and full of air,_

_Dead flies and bits of fluff,_

_So teach us things worth knowing,_

_Bring back what we've forgot,_

_Just do your best, we'll do the rest,_

_And learn until our brains all rot._

Everyone finished at different times and at the end only the Weasley twins were left singing to a slow, funeral march tune. Using his wand as a baton, Dumbledore conducted their last few notes. He clapped the loudest when they had finished.

"Ah, music," he wiped his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

Percy stood immediately and started herding the first years out the door. "First years over here! Follow us prefects! Come, come!" A girl with a set of nice, crisp robes helped Percy lead them out the door, up a marble staircase, through many hidden doors, tapestries, and sliding panels, and up many moving staircases. I was too tired to be amazed at any of these things, much less memorize the way. I didn't even marvel at the moving pictures, whose occupants whispered as we passed.

I was just beginning to wonder if we would ever get there when we saw a bundle of walking sticks floating in the air. I figured it was just some Hogwarts thing but then Percy stepped forward and the sticks began to throw themselves at him.

"Peeves," he whispered to us, ducking as a stick hurtled towards him. "A poltergeist."

He raised his voice as he stepped even closer to the walking sticks, which I thought was pretty brave considering they were now trying to whack him over the head and said, "Peeves—show yourself."

A loud squelching sound, that sounded like a raspberry in the air was the answer.

"Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?" asked Percy sternly.

A pop, then a little man appeared in the air. He had dark, wicked looking eyes with a mischievous glint sparkling cruelly in them. He had a wide mouth and was sitting cross-legged in the air, clutching several walking sticks.

"Oooooooh!" he cackled. "Ickle Firsties! What fun!"

He swooped at us and we all ducked instinctively.

"Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this. I mean it!" Percy barked angrily,

Peeves stuck out his tongue childishly, then disappeared with another small pop, and soared away, dropping the walking sticks on poor Neville's head. He zoomed away, rattling coats of armor all down the hall.

"You want to watch out for Peeves," Percy told us, as we continued on our way. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are."

It's a good thing we had arrived because my legs were beginning to turn in to mush and my eyes kept closing.

At the end of the corridor we were in was a portrait of a very fat woman wearing a long, silk, and pastel pink dress. As we approached she asked, "Password?"

"Caput Draconis," Percy replied, and the portrait swung open wide, revealing a round hole in the wall. We all scrambled through it, though Neville actually needed a leg up.

We found ourselves in the Gryffindor common room. I got a brief glimpse of it as Percy directed us to our dorms.

It was a roundish room, with a large fireplace. There were several squashy armchairs in front of the roaring fire and several more scattered randomly all around the room. On the wall was a bulletin board that was completely bare. Not for long though. I saw a girl tacking up a sign to it. Two spiral staircases led up to the dormitories and several students lounging on the comfy looking armchairs seemed to be getting ready to go up to bed. A card game was being played by a group of older kids in a corner and every so often it would make a loud exploding sound and one of the players would pull back their burned hands, cursing loudly. In another corner, a game that looked like chess was being played, but with different kinds of pieces than regular Muggle chess.

I headed up the spiral staircase that led to the girl's dormitories and found my bed at last. On each mahogany wooden door was a plaque that had each girl's name on it who shared the room. I hardly noticed my roommate's names, instead looking only for mine.

In each room five four-posters hung with blood red, velvet curtains. My trunk was already in the room, next to one of the beds I assumed was mine. I groped for a pair of my pajamas, not even noticing what pattern was on them, closed the curtains to my four poster, pulled on my pajamas, and sank into the warm, comfy blankets.

I felt a warm pan in my bed and pulled it out, wondering who had put it there as the warmth spread through my sheets to me. I fell asleep almost immediately after that, briefly waking up in a dazed stupor, as my roommates filed in after me.

I don't know what my dreams were, all I remembered in the morning was that they were pleasant as I woke with a smile on my face.


	8. First Day

**Disclaimer:**

**I own NOTHING from the fabulous world of Harry Potter!**

**A/N Hey guys! I'm super sorry I haven't been updating a lot. Last week was SUPER hectic! I won't go into everything but I hardly had time to even breathe! **

**I did write a little bit of chapter 8 but not all of it but here it is now so all is well! I should be back to updating regularly from now on though with Final Exams coming up (UGH!) and study guides, regular homework, reading Fanfic, and being my crazy self I don't know if I can keep up! I'll try my best though!** **Anyways, because I haven't been updating I'll try to make up for it! Thanks again! Read, Review, Favorite, and Alert! **

**~Kylie**

**Chapter 8 First Day **

I woke in the morning to bright yellow sunlight streaming through my window. My first thought was: Classes start today! I smiled to myself and pulled the curtains of my four poster back all the way. More sunlight appeared in big shafts of yellow light. The day promised to be beautiful. I turned to my roommate's beds. Their curtains had also fallen back in the night and I could just see their faces. One girl looked Indian with tan skin, raven colored hair, and, as she woke up I could see her eyes were the color of melted chocolate. She didn't look very awake yet so I said nothing to her. The other girl was paler with bushy blonde hair with brown streaks. Her cheeks were a light pink, as if she had blush on, and she was sleeping so I couldn't see her eyes.

I had folded my new robes neatly in my trunk and now I took them out and looked at them reverently. They were jet black with the Hogwarts crest on one side. The witch's hat was black and pointed and I placed it carefully on my mane of hair. I admired myself in the mirror.

I quickly took off the hat and went to the bathroom where I combed back my hair, brushed my teeth until they dazzled white, and cleaned my face. When I came out, with rosy cheeks, bright teeth, and tamed hair I put on my witch's hat again and appraised myself in the mirror for the second time.

The Indian girl nodded and gave me a shy smile before going into the bathroom and shutting the door quietly. The other girl was sitting up in bed, rubbing her eyes sleepily. The other two beds were vacant.

I grabbed my school bag and slipped out of the dormitory quietly. Before I left, I checked the plaque with our name's on it. I saw my name and above that the name, Lavender Brown and below my name, Pavarti Patil, etched into the gold metal plate. I figured Pavarti Patil was probably the Indian girl and Lavender therefore, the other girl. There was a long space after that, and I guessed this was where the other two occupants of the beds would have gone.

I hurried down the long winding marble staircase to the common room and was out of the portrait hole and setting off down the corridor quickly. Unfortunately, I hadn't memorized the entire way and soon became quite lost. I stared desperately around, sure I was going to be late for breakfast and maybe even my first class. Miserably, I continued on, and was about to turn another corner when someone behind me said something.

"Wouldn't go down there if I were you, lassie."

I spun quickly, searching the corridor, but no one was there as far as I could see.

"Where are you?"

"Right here of course!" came a voice to my left. I turned and saw a painting of a knight in shining armor with a fat gray pony next to him. To my surprise, the knight was talking to me. He smiled when he saw me.

"Sir Cadogan, knight in shining armor, to your service missy lou!" he bowed.

"Oh!" I cried, my eyes widening.

"Oh to you! Now, can I be of service?" he asked.

"Oh, umm, could you direct me to the Great Hall?"

"Why of course! On we go!" and with that he tried to jump onto the pony, missed, and fell unceremoniously to the ground. He tried again and failed. He abandoned the idea, and rolled up, armor clanking.

"On foot then!" he cried and hurried off, clanking through different portraits. The occupants looked thoroughly irritated that he was rattling through their paintings without even an apology. I ran to keep up with him and soon enough, I was in front of the Great Hall.

"Oh, thank you!" I said to him.

"No problem at all, dear maiden. Just remember, if you ever need directions again, call on Sir Cadogan!"

He loped off and I entered the Great Hall.

I was just in time for breakfast and Pavarti Patil had saved me a seat next to her. She smiled shyly at me as I arrived, hot and sweaty. She gave me a questioning look and I explained that I had gotten lost. She smiled again and turned back to the front. She spoke not a word. I didn't even have any idea what her voice sounded like.

I had some porridge for breakfast, sprinkled with a spice that gave it a slightly spicy condiment that I found to be very good. I heard all the first year's recounting how they had found their way here. I told them about how I had gotten lost and they all laughed at Sir Cadogan when I told them how he had failed to mount his pony. I heard stories of having to tickle door's in certain places, door's that would only open if you asked politely, walls pretending to be doors, coats of armor that could walk, portraits whose occupants visited each other, stairs that moved, and stairs with trick steps.

Nearly Headless Nick was always happy to help Gryffindors but if you met Peeves you would almost certainly be late for class.

He would drop various heavy objects on your head, pelt you with chalk that left you with white dust in your hair for the whole day, pull rugs out from underneath you so that you fell awkwardly on your butt, and sneak up behind you, invisible, and then grab your nose and yell, "GOT YOUR CONK!"

Argus Filch was almost as bad. He was the caretaker and he seemed to take much pleasure in other people's pain. For example, he had seen Harry and Ron trying to force their way through a door that unfortunately turned out to be the forbidden one and didn't believe them when they said they hadn't known.

Luckily for them, Professor Quirrell happened to be passing by and had saved them. Worse, Argus Filch had a cat named Mrs. Norris. She patrolled the corridors alone and if she saw you doing something wrong she would go running to Filch who would appear moments later, panting. Filch knew the passageways almost as well as the Weasley twins and could pop up at any moment. All the students hated both Mrs. Norris and Filch and the dearest ambition of most was to give Mrs. Norris a good kick.

Classes were very hard, as I found out when I had gone to every single one. Every night, at midnight, we had to study the night skies through our telescopes once a week, on Wednesday. Then, learn the names of all the different stars and the movements of the planets. I didn't even know there were so many! Apparently, neither do the scientists at NASA though… and boy did those planets move! Some turned one way for a few minutes, and then abruptly changed while others would go in the same slow turn until suddenly, they would start turning upside down!

Three times a week we were sent down to the Herbology greenhouses where we were taught all sorts of things… how to handle a certain plant, what to put on so the Venomous Tentacula didn't bite your head off, and what all the plants and fungi were used for. It was hard to listen to dumpy little Professor Sprout when behind you the Venomous Tentacula was rearing its ugly head and hissing at you while it tried to bite your ears off.

History of Magic was, I must say, a bit boring, but _**so **_fascinating at the same time! Professor Binns was a ghost, the only ghost who taught, and one day he had got up to teach and simply left his body behind him! We had to take rigorous notes in his class but he spoke quite slowly so I had time to relax a bit and listen. Magic has such a colorful history!

Charms! I loved Charms! It was extremely interesting but I don't think I was the best at it. Well, maybe in the class, but it wasn't the same as say, Transfiguration. I absolutely adored Transfiguration! More on that later, though. Professor Flitwick taught Charms and as Percy had said, he was absolutely minuscule! Never mind that he had dwarf blood the man was just way too tiny! He had to stand up on a stack of precariously balanced books to see over his podium to talk to us! I soon discovered that all Gryffindors had classes with each other (and sometimes with other Houses) as soon as Flitwick began roll call. When he called, "Potter, Harry!" in his tinny little voice, he let out a squeak and toppled off his books with a crash.

Now Transfiguration was truly my favorite subject so far. Professor McGonagall was stern, strict, and clever. The moment the bell rang as we sat down in her class she swept to the front of the room and began with a lecture.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

And with that, she changed her desk into a snorting pig and then back again. I, along with the rest of the class, was very impressed and couldn't wait to start changing things into different things but we soon discovered we wouldn't be learning anything like that for a while. A very _**long**_ while.

We took lots of very long complicated notes that I happen to know nobody understood except for me. Well, that showed when we were all given matches and told to turn them into needles. Within five minutes mine had become quite silver and pointy which Professor McGonagall made a point to exhibit. She then gave me a smile, a smile I now understood was a very rare and gave five points to Gryffindor.

Nobody else managed to turn their matches into needles so I was quite proud of myself. The Ravenclaws, whom we were working with, all shot me dirty glares while the Gryffindors grinned.

Most everyone had been looking forward to Defense Against the Dark Arts but it turned out to be quite a bit of a joke. I had, of course, been looking forward to it too but not nearly as much as some of the other kids so I had a bit less of a disappointment when Professor Quirrell came up.

For one thing, his classroom smelled so much like garlic that rumors were circulating that it was because he was attempting to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was sure would come back one day.

He also claimed his turban had been given to him by an African prince as a deep thank you for ridding his country of a troublesome zombie but not many believed that story especially after Seamus Finnigan asked to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie and Quirrell seemed to find the weather awfully important right then and spent the next five minutes muttering about it.

Then, there was the funny smell hanging around his turban. The Weasley twins were convinced that he had stuffed it full of garlic as extra protection against the Romanian vampire but I was less that sure of that.

All in all, classes were pretty good and from that first fateful day I had never gotten lost again so I was quite proud of myself.

Then, Friday came about…

**A/N Hope you guys liked it! I don't think it was some of my best material but I think it was pretty good anyways. So, tell me what you think and thanks to all for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and alerting! **

**~Kylie**


	9. Potions

**Disclaimer:**

**I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER! DO YOU **_**WANT **_**TO MAKE ME CRY?**

**A/N Hey people! I just have to say, I'm SOOOOOOO sorry for not updating sooner. I'm going to make excuses but that doesn't justify it in any way. I do however, have Finals coming up so I'm studying SUPER hard and because of Finals we get, of course, wonderful study guides which are just you know… so…. ahhh… helpful… I guess…. And then, I recently turned in a project for my Science teacher (honestly, how gives projects on top of study guides and Finals?) and then, to top it off, I have regular homework! So, you see my predicament. Anyways, I should have found some time to write though and I'm SUPER sorry for that. I am going to try and update regularly now. Not every day but maybe every 2-4 days or so. In 8 days I'll be free of school and then, hopefully, I should be updating more often! Enough with me though! On to the story! **

**Read, Review, Alert, and Favorite!**

**~Kylie**

**Chapter 9 ` Potions**

Friday was Double Potions with the Slytherin House. I can't say I was happy about that. Professor Snape taught Potions and everyone said he favorite Slytherin. I wondered if that were true. He was, after all, the Head of Slytherin.

As I sat down to breakfast next to Harry and Ron, the mail arrived. I was, of course, used to this by now but I remembered what a scare I had had when, on the first day, hundreds of owls streamed into the Great Hall and dropped packages and letters down into the waiting students' arms. I saw Harry had gotten a letter but as my parents were Muggles and didn't know how to send anything by owl I wasn't counting on receiving anything this year.

I finished my porridge and hurried off to get to Potions. I really disliked being late and so I was normally the first to all classes. It was a good thing too. Potions was deep into the darkest corners of the dungeons and so it took quite a while to get there. The air was cold and damp and I immediately wished I had brought my cloak but it was too late to get it now. I waited impatiently outside the door as more and more students arrived and milled about, waiting. At last, Professor Snape opened the door and we all filed in.

The room was… depressing, would be an adequate word I suppose. The walls were made from cold, gray stone (we were in the dungeons though, what did you expect?) and the roof matched. The floor was a gray, dusty color though at least it wasn't made from stone. Dark, dusty shelves and cabinets lined the walls and I saw jars of pickled animals and other unpleasant things floating around in them. I swallowed and looked away. In the front of the room was a dark wooden desk where Professor Snape was sitting on a matching chair, and in front of the desk were tables that looked as they sat two to three people. Harry, Ron, and I all sat together at one table while other students anxiously tried to catch their friends eyes so they wouldn't have to sit alone… or by the pickled animals.

The Potions master started off with roll call. As Flitwick had done, he stopped at Harry's name.

"Ah, yes. Harry Potter. Our new—_celebrity_." His voice was silky smooth, like a snake and he had a hook nose, a sallow face, black, boring eyes, and overlong greasy hair that hung around his face like a curtain. As he spoke I watched Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle, all Slytherins, snigger behind their hands, barely attempting to conceal their smugness.

In a soft voice he continued and I leaned on the edge of my seat, straining to hear him. Like Professor McGonagall, Snape seemed to have the gift of keeping a class silent with no effort.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making. As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses…. I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death—if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

You could have heard a pin drop, the class was so still. I sat silently, listening with rapt attention, ready and desperate to prove that I was not a dunderhead.

"Potter!" Snape barked suddenly, making half the class jump. Harry simply looked scared. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

I instantly knew. My hand shot straight up into the air.

"I don't know, sir," Harry replied.

_Ugh! Come on!_ I thought. _I know! I know!_

Snape sneered down at Harry venomously.

"Tut, tut—fame clearly isn't everything," Snape leered, ignoring my raised hand. "Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

I stretched my hand up high, as high as it would possibly go without me having to stand up and thought,_ A goat's stomach! A goat's stomach! Come on! Pick me! I know! I'm not a dunderhead!_

In the corner, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were visibly shaking with barely suppressed laughter at Harry's misfortune.

"I don't know, sir," Harry said dutifully.

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?" Snape asked cruelly. My hand quivered high in the air.

"What is the difference, Potter, between monkswood and wolfsbane?"

This would not do! I stood up stretching my hand up high and looked pointedly at Professor Snape who was still ignoring me.

"I don't know," said Harry for the third time. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?" _Yes! Yes!_ I thought. _Try me!_

Some people laughed at Harry's response, but Snape, it seemed, was not amused.

"Sit down!" he snapped at me. I sat, crestfallen and my hand fell to my lap. It looked useless there, to me. "For you information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkswood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?" Snape snarled.

I, for one, could barely contain myself. I had known all those answers. Down to the very last word! I frowned at Snape and copied down the answers to the questions even though I had already known them.

Over the sound of quills scratching on parchment, Snape said, "And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for you cheek, Potter."

The rest of the lesson was absolute torture. We were put into pairs and were told to make a simple potion used to cure boils.

Snape swept up and down the aisles, his cloak billowing out behind him as he inspected us. He criticized everyone except for Malfoy, who seemed to be his favorite. He was just loudly telling everyone to look at the way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs so perfectly (even though mine were just the same, if not better!) when acrid green mist and a loud hissing, like the sound of air being let out of a balloon echoed off the dungeon's walls.

Somehow, Neville Longbottom, clumsy as he was, had managed to melt Seamus Finnigan's cauldron into a twisted looking blob and their potion was now seeping across the floor, burning holes in people's shoes. Instantly, the whole class retreated to their stools and stood on top of them, looking fearfully down at the green gloop that was crawling steadily across the floor. Poor Neville had been drench when the cauldron collapsed and was now moaning in agony as red, angry looking boils spread all over his skin.

"Idiot boy!" Snape hissed, waving his wand and clearing up the potion.

"I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"

Neville simply whimpered.

Snape's face tightened into a mask of rage. "Take him up to the hospital wing," he snapped at Seamus. He turned to Harry and Ron, who had been sitting next to the unlucky pair when the incident had occurred, and spat, "You—Potter—why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor."

Harry looked enraged. Seething, he opened his mouth to retort but I saw Ron kick him under the table and mutter, "Don't push it. I've heard Snape can turn very nasty."

An hour later Potions was over. Though my potion had been the best in the class, Snape had insisted the Malfoy's was much better and displayed it as the best. Mine had clearly been the deep blue the potion should have been though, while Malfoy's was more turquoise then deep blue.

Glad that it was Friday, and we had the afternoon off, I walked up to the dorm to take short nap and start on some homework for Monday.

**A/N So, I hope you liked it and again, I apologize for the long wait and the short chapter! Please forgive me! I'll try to update regularly from now on so please keep on the lookout for Chapter 10! Thanks again!  
>Please Read, Review, Favorite, and Alert!<br>~Kylie**


End file.
